Pearce: Law enforcement access needed at Organ Mountains national monument

Calling President Barack Obama's declaration that created the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument, a unilateral "rushed decision," a New Mexico congressman introduced a bill Tuesday to "correct" one of its provisions to ensure law enforcement officers have unfettered access.

U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce, a Republican who represents the 2nd Congressional District, contends the president ignored input from local officials on public safety and other major issues such as environmental and economic impacts. The bill proposes to clarify that the secretary of Homeland Security may undertake law enforcement and border security activities within the national monument.

His bill guarantees all federal, state and local law enforcement personnel, including the Border Patrol, will have access to the national monument, a news release from Pearce states.

"This effort is a simple, targeted solution to secure our southern border and protect local communities, something that was overlooked by the president in his unilateral declaration," Pearce said. "Restrictive land management policies can have a negative impact on border security. In Arizona's Chiricahua National Monument, a Park Service employee was brutally assaulted and left for dead last year. The Organ Pipe National Monument in Arizona has long been threatened by drug and human smugglers, as the Park Service readily admits. My goal is to prevent the same scenario from unfolding in Dona Ana County."

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U.S. Rep. Rob Bishop of Utah, Environment Regulation Subcommittee chairman and one of 17 cosponsors of House Resolution 5164, said when the concept of a national monument was presented as legislation, the two Democrat senators from New Mexico recognized the need to ensure that Border Patrol officers still would have access to the areas despite new restrictions on types of access and use. U.S. Sens. Martin Heinrich and Tom Udall, Democrats from New Mexico, could not be reached for comment.

"President Obama disregarded this when he decided to make the new national muniment by executive order, and as a result, he has made our border less safe," Bishop said. "Drug smugglers already are trespassing into the United States by way of our federal lands and the president just did them a huge favor by creating new areas that limit the Border Patrol's ability to maintain a routine presence. This legislation to fix that is imperative,"